


The Genedar

by Orime



Series: Lumariae [4]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 23:19:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16881156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orime/pseuds/Orime
Summary: Lumariae's experiences on the Genedar.





	The Genedar

Lumariae's eyes opened. She was lying curled on her side on the floor. She turned onto her back, staring expressionlessly at the ceiling until she heard the sounds of the morning meal being prepared in the next room. She pulled herself to her hooves and moved through to line up for her share of food. A recent stay at a new planet had yielded a small supply of edible meat, and so recent meals had been augmented with a few strips of the stuff dried into jerky. Bits and pieces of the ship's current stock were bundled into a small bowl and passed to her. She walked over to the corner of the room and quietly ate what she had been given, barely tasting it.

When she was done, she moved behind the counters and added her bowl to a rapidly accumulating pile. She took up a nearby cloth and soaked it in the little basin of water beside the pile, wringing it out until it was merely damp. They had to be sparing with the water they used for these kinds of tasks. If they didn't clean things, disease would run rampant throughout the ship and finish off the struggling Draenei people for good. But if they cleaned things too liberally they risked running out of water, which would kill them all just as surely.

Lumariae steadily and methodically made her way through the endlessly replenishing bowls before her, wiping them down as thoroughly as she could and transferring them to a new pile, ready to be used for the next meal. She continued until it was time for said meal, and after eating that quietly in her corner she returned to her station to clean some more.

Someone encroached upon her space to ask if she was getting on okay. She nodded silently, continuing to wipe the bowls and waiting for the person to leave. Then they asked if she needed any help. She shook her head, still avoiding eye contact. They reached out and gave her shoulder a quick squeeze, which made her freeze up until the hand had been removed and the owner had finally left her in peace.

Few people tended to bother her these days. She had made a reputation for herself in her youth as a wilful child that would lash out unexpectedly at anyone and everyone. But the solitude suited her well, and her daily routine of waking and eating and washing and sleeping gave her something to do to help the minutes and hours and days trudge by.

She stopped again for an evening meal, taking only the time she needed to transfer it from the bowl into her system, and then returning to her task. She continued until there was nothing more left to clean, and then left the room wordlessly to curl up on her side back in her spot outside. She lay there motionless, staring dully at the wall in front of her until she eventually drifted off, waiting to repeat everything once more the next day. And the day after that. And the next again day.

−−−

Lumariae's eyes opened. She was lying curled on her side on the floor. She turned onto her back and tried her best to block out the sounds of commotion all around her. She pulled herself to her hooves and moved through to the kitchens, but nobody was there. She walked over to the pile of bowls still waiting to receive the morning meal, resting her hand on the top of one stack. She slowly patted her hand up and down a few times. People began shouting.

Her eyes widened as a song blossomed in her soul, exploding her world with light and colours and sounds and smells. A twinkly voice like the soft chimes of little bells emerged from the song, telling her to stay calm and to make her way to the ship's pods. She realised that tears were streaking down her face as she felt herself inhale, tasting oxygen, life!

The room around her was so finely detailed, her head swam trying to absorb it all. Her eyes wandered over the walls made of that strange blend of crystal and organic matter, and the basic counter in front of her which held the bowls! The bowls! There they were, simple and clean and round and waiting. She ran a finger down the side of the stack before her, exploring its uneven spine.

Her focus then shifted to the sound of many hooves clattering against the floor as everyone made their way to the pods, as the song had directed. She had hated the pods, she remembered, preferring to sleep on her patch of floor. But that all seemed distant and foolish to her now.

She followed the crowd as if in a dream, drinking in every detail of the space around her, properly seeing it all for the first time. A woman close to her with simple white robes on was chewing her bottom lip. A man on her other side was clutching a bag to his chest and muttering something in a voice that sounded deep and warm. The man next to him was holding the hand of a young girl, keeping her close. The new song within her shifted to include edges of sorrow, but remained just as beautiful as before.


End file.
